A
mass tort is defined by one or more actors damaging a great
number of people by a common wrongful act. Examples of
mass tort litigation include a large oil spill, plant
explosion, chemical leak, airplane crash, building fire,
bridge collapse, dam burst, or dangerous products sold to
the public.

If you have
suffered a significant loss from the Gulf Coast Oil Spill,
another oil spill, or another man-made disaster,, feel free
to submit an inquiry or
send an e-mail to Texas Gulf Coast Oil Spill Lawyer Jason
Coomer. He provides advice to businesses,
landowners, and families that have been suffered significant
damages including death, catastrophic injury, loss of
business, or contaminated real estate by mass torts and
man-made disasters.

Gulf of Mexico Oil
Spill, Other Large Oil Spill, and Man-made Environmental
Disaster in the News

The recent oil spill in the Gulf of
Mexico is one of the largest oil spills and environmental
disasters in United States history. The impact from
this oil spill is expected to poison the many environments;
kill many types of fish, birds, and other wildlife; hurt
many businesses; contaminate land all along the Gulf coast;
and will have a devastating impact on the economy and
ecology on Alabama, Texas, Florida, Mississippi, and
Louisiana.

Below are some news stories regarding the
2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, other large oil spills, and
other large man-made environmental disasters.

"VENICE, La. – An oil spill that
threatened to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez disaster spread
out of control and drifted inexorably toward the Gulf Coast
on Thursday as fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews
spread floating barriers around marshes. The spill was both
bigger and closer than imagined — five times larger than
first estimated, with the leading edge just three miles from
the Louisiana shore. Authorities said it could reach the
Mississippi River delta by Thursday night...."

"The oil slick could become the
nation's worst environmental disaster in decades,
threatening hundreds of species of fish, birds and other
wildlife along the Gulf Coast, one of the world's richest
seafood grounds, teeming with shrimp, oysters and other
marine life."

The leak from the ocean floor proved to
be far bigger than initially reported, contributing to a
growing sense among many in Louisiana that the government
failed them again, just as it did during Hurricane Katrina.
President Barack Obama dispatched Cabinet officials to deal
with the crisis.

"The Gulf Coast spill will have eclipsed
the Exxon Valdez in terms of total gallons of oil before the
weekend is over -- making it the largest oil spill in U.S.
history -- according to calculations made by oceanographer
Ian MacDonald after studying aerial Coast Guard photos taken
earlier in the week.

MacDonald, a professor at Florida State
University who counts "oil and gas development" among his
areas of expertise, stopped short of comparing the Deepwater
Horizon spill to that of the Alaskan oil tanker, but said
Saturday, "The spill is growing. I'm comfortable saying that
the size and extent of this slick is 10 million gallons."

Given that just over a million gallons
are leaking into the Gulf per day, according to MacDonald's
calculations, the spill will shortly top the Exxon Valdez's
estimated 11-million-gallon spill. It is almost certain to
cost more than the Exxon spill, which cost $3.5 billion for
cleanup and another $5 billion worth of lawsuits and other
settlements.

The environmental whistleblowers at
SkyTruth, which debunked earlier lowball estimates from the
government and BP, said the spill will top the Exxon spill
by the end of the day Saturday. Federal point man and Coast
Guard Admiral Thad Allen didn't dispute the calculations of
MacDonald or SkyTruth, but said "any exact estimate is
probably impossible at this point."

"MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER – High
winds and choppy seas frustrated efforts to hold back the
oil spill seeping into Louisiana's rich fishing grounds and
nesting areas Friday, and the government desperately cast
about for new ideas for dealing with the nation's biggest
environmental crisis in decades."

"President Barack Obama, meanwhile,
halted any new offshore drilling projects unless rigs have
new safeguards to prevent a repeat of the disaster that was
set in motion when an offshore platform exploded and sank 50
miles out in the Gulf of Mexico."

"As the mile-deep BP well continued to
spew an estimated 200,000 gallons of crude a day, one of
more than two dozen lawsuits filed in the wake of the
explosion claimed it was caused when workers for oil
services contractor Halliburton Inc. improperly capped the
well. Halliburton denied it...."

"The spill — a slick more than 130 miles
long and 70 miles wide — threatens hundreds of species of
wildlife, including birds, dolphins and the fish, shrimp,
oysters and crabs that make the Gulf Coast one of the
nation's most abundant sources of seafood. Louisiana closed
some fishing grounds and oyster beds because of the risk of
oil contamination...."

"According to a 2007 study by the federal
Minerals Management Service, which examined the 39 rig
blowouts in the Gulf of Mexico between 1992 and 2006,
cementing was a contributing factor in 18 of the incidents.
In all the cases, gas seepage occurred during or after
cementing of the well casing, the MMS said."

"At least 1.6 million gallons of oil have
spilled, according to Coast Guard estimates."

"BP America Chairman and President Lamar
McKay told me efforts to trigger the blowout preventer to
stop the flow of oil from the sea floor are like performing
“open heart surgery at 5,000 feet in the dark with
robot-controlled submarines.” During my exclusive “This
Week” interview, McKay said he believes the cause of the
explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that led the loss
of 11 lives and to its eventual sinking was “a failed piece
of equipment”. McKay added, “We don't know why it failed yet
in this contracted rig.”

McKay said BP, oil industry and
government partners are working on four fronts to manage the
massive spill: 1) stopping the leak at the source, 2)
working on a containment system to collect the oil below the
surface and channel the flow through a pipe, 3) fighting to
keep oil from washing up on shore and 4) dealing with the
clean-up of any oil on and off shore.

A containment dome, McKay said, has been
fabricated and is in the final engineering phase. McKay said
he expects the dome to be deployed in 6-8 days.

Estimates of how much oil is emanating
from the sea floor are “very difficult,” McKay said,
“because you can’t measure [it] in any way accurately.” He
added that “there is a large uncertainty range” around the
estimate of 5,000 barrels per day that is said to be flowing
from the well."

"The oil gushing from the well where the
Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank is now spreading
through the Gulf of Mexico. Oil spills can kill wildlife,
pollute the air and water, and alter the ecosystem for years
to come. Many of us think of the Exxon Valdez oil spill as a
particularly bad one, but with about 42,800 tons of oil
spilled, it doesn't rank as one of the 10 worst ever."

"Humans have turned screwing up the earth
into an art form, skillfully wreaking havoc on the land,
water and air through negligence, lack of concern or even
the greedy desire to profit at all costs. American
corporations are especially adept at causing severe damage
to the environment and human health, and some of the worst
offenders – including Exxon Mobil, Monsanto and W.R. Grace –
have, by and large, gotten away with it.

From knowingly dumping toxic chemicals
into a stream where children play to willfully ignoring the
potentially devastating weaknesses of their own facilities,
men have managed to create destruction on earth that rivals
the wrath of Mother Nature herself. Here are America’s top
10 worst environmental disasters caused by people.

10. Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone

American farmers love their chemical
fertilizers and pesticides, and apply them liberally to
their crops. Unfortunately, these chemicals – along with
nitrogen-rich livestock waste – seeps from farmlands along
the Mississippi River into the water and eventually, down
into the Gulf of Mexico, where they have led to an
oxygen-starved “dead zone” the size of New Jersey. Ocean
dead zones cannot support sea life.

Nitrogen in the chemicals and animal
waste spur the growth of algae, which is eaten by
zooplankton. Those microscopic creatures then excrete
pellets that sink to the bottom of the ocean and decay, a
process that depletes the water of oxygen.

Researchers set out last July to study
the dead zone, taking water samples and measuring the total
affected area. Some water samples showed no oxygen at all,
and smelled of hydrogen sulfide, a rotten egg smell that
indicates organic sediments on the sea floor.

The dead zone has grown steadily over the
past few decades. Though it tends to disappear in October
once cold weather sets in, there’s a “legacy” left behind
due to the fact that not all organic matter on the bottom
decays in any given year. This means that even if the same
amount of nitrogen is released into the Gulf year after
year, the dead zone will get larger.

A recent study identified many of the
sources of the nitrogen runoff along the Mississippi River,
and the government plans to help states focus their
pollution-reduction efforts to prevent some of the runoff
from ending up in the river.

9. Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also
known as the Pacific Ocean Trash Gyre, Eastern Garbage Patch
or Pacific Trash Vortex, is a huge swirling mess of plastic
in the North Central Pacific Ocean estimated by some to be
the size of the United States. In fact, it’s even been
referred to as the world’s largest garbage dump. The
Algalita Marine Research Foundation found in 2008 that
plastic outnumbers plankton in some areas of the patch by 48
to 1. Algalita’s education advisor Anna Cummins described
the pollution just under the surface of the water as
‘plastic soup’.

It formed gradually over time as a result
of marine pollution, gathered together in one area by
oceanic currents, and may contain over 100 million tons of
debris. Charles Moore, a California-based sea captain and
ocean researcher who came upon the patch after competing in
a sailing race, estimates that 80% of the garbage comes from
land-based sources, with the other 20% coming from ships.

Much of the plastic in this patch and
elsewhere in the ocean end up in the digestive systems of
sea creatures including turtles, jellyfish, marine birds and
other sea life.

8. West Virginia/Kentucky Coal Sludge
Spill

Did George W. Bush cover up a major
environmental disaster during his presidency? In October of
2000, 300 million gallons of mercury- and arsenic-laced coal
slurry flooded land, polluted rivers and destroyed property
in Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. The slurry had been
contained in a huge reservoir by the Massey Energy Company,
killing everything in the streams all the way up the Ohio
River.

Jack Spadaro, head of the National Mine
Health and Safety Academy (MSHA), a branch of the Department
of Labor, initiated an investigation – but it was cut short
when the Bush Administration, which had decided that the
country needed more energy and less regulation of energy
companies, took office. Spadaro had blown the whistle on his
own regulators, saying they hadn’t done their job, and
complained to the Labor Department’s inspector general.

In 2004, Spadaro had his office raided by
government agents who went through his files, changed the
locks on the doors and accused him of abusing his authority.
He was demoted – silenced, some say, by the Bush
Administration. His replacement, Dave Lauriski, was a former
mining industry executive himself, and Massey Energy was off
the hook. Spadaro had planned to cite the company for eight
violations, but Laurinski cut it down to two and required
just $110,000 in fines.

Years later, slurry remains on many of
the properties that line the streams – it was never properly
cleaned up.

7. Anniston, Alabama PCB Poisoning

For nearly 40 years, corporate giant
Monsanto routinely dumped toxic waste into West Anniston
Creek while producing now-banned industrial coolants called
PCBs. They also dumped millions of pounds of PCBs into
open-pit landfills – and proceeded to spend decades covering
it up even after confirming that fish submerged in the creek
turned belly-up within seconds.

Monsanto knew exactly how dangerous PCBs
were, but decided not to warn the community – instead,
ordering the conclusion of a study done on rats to be
changed from “slightly tumorigenic” to “does not appear to
be carcinogenic.” The company had enjoyed a four-decade-long
monopoly over the PCB market and, as an internal memo
revealed, decided that “We can’t afford to lose one dollar
of business”. In fact, to this day Monsanto hasn’t
apologized or taken responsibility despite the fact that
they were forced to pay $700 billion in fines in 2003.

6. Picher, Oklahoma Lead Contamination

Picher, Oklahoma is a modern ghost town,
all but abandoned after gigantic piles of lead-laced mine
waste covered 25,000 acres and poisoned local residents.
Acid mine water burned the nearby Tar Creek and turned it
red. Sinkholes opened up in the mountains of mining waste,
threatening to swallow the children who played there before
anyone realized how dangerous it was.

The mines closed in 1970 and the area was
declared a Superfund site in 1981, but its inhabitants
weren’t ready to leave until 2006 when studies found that
most churches, homes and the school were in serious danger
of caving in. A federal buyout program allowed most of them
to move elsewhere, but a few have chosen to stay behind
despite the fact that there’s no water and no police. They
can’t bear to let go of their town, which is so intimately
tied with their own heritage.

5. Three Mile Island Nuclear Meltdown

During the last week of March, 2009, the
world marked the 30th anniversary of the Three Mile Island
nuclear accident, which resulted in the release of up to 13
million curies of radioactive noble gases and remains the
most notorious accident in the history of the American
nuclear power industry.

The accident, which took place at the
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin
County, Pennsylvania in 1979, was a partial core meltdown
caused by failures in the non-nuclear secondary system,
followed by a stuck relief valve which allowed large amounts
of reactor coolant to escape. Over the months that followed,
the public mislead and outright lied to about the extent of
the accident and its potential effects on nearby residents’
health.

The federal government did not keep track
of the health histories of the region’s residents, and some
say that the state of Pennsylvania hid the health impacts of
the accident, deleting cancers from the public record and
misrepresenting the facts that it could not hide. Anecdotal
evidence suggests a far greater toll, however, with large
numbers of central Pennsylvanians suffering skin sores and
lesions after being exposed to the fallout and many
developing visible tumors and breathing problems. While the
nuclear industry maintains that “no one died at Three Mile
Island”, it has continuously refused to allow an open
judicial hearing on the hundreds of cases still pending.

4. Love Canal Toxic Dump

In the late 1800s, William T. Love
envisioned a “model city” built near a canal that would
connect the two levels of the Niagara River separated by the
Niagara Falls. He barely started digging the canal before
being forced to abandon the project due to lack of funds,
and by the 1920s, it became a dumping site for the
municipality of Niagara Falls. In the 1940s, Hooker Chemical
was given permission to dump 21,000 tons of industrial
chemicals at the site, covering it up with dirt and
vegetation in 1952.

Hooker Chemical sold this land to the
local school board for one dollar, and despite the dangers
of the chemicals under the soil, a school was built on the
dumping site. By 1955, a 25-foot area crumbled and exposed
toxic chemical drums, which filled with water during
rainstorms, creating huge puddles that the children liked to
play in. The walls of the canal were also breached during
construction of sewers for nearby low-income and
single-family residences. None of these residents knew about
the history of the canal, but by the 1970s, health effects
became apparent.

Lois Gibbs, a local mother, discovered
the truth about the chemical waste when investigating why so
many, including her son, had severe health problems. High
rates of asthma, miscarriages, mental retardation and other
health problems along with reports of strange odors and
substances, and a survey conducted by the Love Canal
Homeowners Association found that 56% of the children born
from 1974-1978 had a birth defect. Gibbs and other residents
struggled through a three-year battle to call attention to
the problem, finally making it a national media event in
1978. The government finally relocated Love Canal families
and held Hooker Chemical liable for the damages through the
Superfund act. Hooker, now Occidental Petroleum, was forced
to pay $129 million in retribution, and the site was
officially declared clean in 2004.

3. Libby, Montana Asbestos Contamination

The W.R. Grace plant in Libby, Montana
continually spewed asbestos over the small town for decades,
sickening over 1,000 people and killing over 200. “There’s
never been a case where so many people were sickened or
killed by environmental crime,” says David Uhlmann, who
helped lead the federal case against the chemical company.

Plumes of smoke from the factory covered
the town in tremolite asbestos, a particularly toxic form
linked to a number of illnesses including mesothelioma. The
government stated during last year’s court case that W.R.
Grace conspired to “knowingly release” the asbestos and said
the company tried to hide the dangers from employees and
residents. The company, which is now bankrupt after facing
over 270,000 asbestos-related lawsuits, was ordered to pay
$250 million to clean up Libby on March 14th, 2009. W.R.
Grace is also connected to numerous other contamination
incidents, including an Acton, Massachusetts Superfund site.

2. Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill

By far the most notorious man-made
environmental disaster in America’s history, the
Exxon-Valdez oil spill of 1989 was devastating to the coast
of Alaska when 10.8 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil
was released into the secluded Prince William Sound,
eventually covering 11,000 miles of ocean.

The oil tanker Exxon Valdez had been
heading from the Valdez oil terminal in Alaska to Long
Beach, California on March 23rd, 1989. The ship, which was
on autopilot thanks to a couple sleep-deprived pilots,
struck Bligh Reef, accidentally releasing about 1/5th of its
total haul of oil. Cleanup began in April, and despite
thousands of personnel helping over the next two years, it
still has not been fully cleaned up 20 years later. In 2001,
a survey found oil at 58% of the 91 sites assessed.

Prince William Sound, which had been a
pristine ecosystem for a wild variety of wildlife, was
devastated. 250,000 sea birds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor
seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 orcas, and billions of
salmon and herring eggs were killed immediately after the
spill, but the oil continues to take its toll to this day. A
2006 study found that exposure to Exxon Valdez oil is still
having a material impact on many shore-dwelling animals. Sea
otters have yet to re-inhabit Herring Bay, and their overall
numbers in the area have declined.

Exxon Mobil apologized for the spill and
was fined $150 million, though $125 million was forgiven by
the court in recognition of the company’s cooperation in
cleanup efforts. Exxon paid an additional $100 million to
the federal and state governments as restitution for damage
caused to fish, wildlife and land, and agreed to pay $900
million in ten annual installments to civil claimants.

In 1994, an Anchorage jury found that
Exxon acted recklessly and awarded victims of the spill $5
billion in punitive damages – an amount that was soon cut in
half by an appeals court. The U.S. Supreme Court further cut
the amount to $507.5 million in June 2008, but the
plaintiffs still have not seen that money – Exxon is
fighting the payout.

1. Tennessee Coal Ash Spill

Just when everybody thought the Exxon
Valdez was the worst human-caused environmental disaster in
U.S. history, a massive coal waste spill unleashed over a
billion gallons of toxic sludge in Kingston, Tennessee. On
December 22nd, 2008, a wall holding back 80 acres of sludge
from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Fossil Plant gave way,
pouring coal sludge – a byproduct of the ash from coal
combustion – onto at least 300 acres of surrounding land. 15
homes were destroyed, and many more sit on land that is now
contaminated with arsenic, mercury and lead.

TVA and state inspection reports show
that the Tennessee Valley Authority knew for the past decade
about leaks at the ash retention pond and failed to act.
Worse yet, they failed to warn citizens about the dangers. 8
days after the spill occurred, TVA finally shed some light
on just how serious the situation really was:

“In just one year, the plant’s byproducts
included 45,000 pounds of arsenic, 49,000 pounds of lead,
1.4 million pounds of barium, 91,000 pounds of chromium and
140,000 pounds of manganese. Those metals can cause cancer,
liver damage and neurological complications, among other
health problems. And the holding pond … contained many
decades’ worth of these deposits.”

Still, even as workers protected by
HAZMAT suits picked through the sludge, the residents whose
homes were affected by the spill were being told by TVA that
they were safe. Meanwhile, TVA was arresting activists who
were trying to warn citizens of the area about the dangers.

Despite their obvious culpability, the
Tennessee Valley Authority is now seeking to have all
resulting lawsuits against them dismissed. The utility
believes that their own responsibility is to clean up the
spill, not to pay damages to those who were affected by it.
TVA has bought 71 properties tainted by the spill but
rejected 166 more claims.

It will likely be many years before the
public knows the full extent of the damage of this coal ash
spill, but it has called attention to the lack of coal ash
regulation and as a result, the EPA has finally indicated
plans to get tougher on coal."

Mass Tort Lawsuits and Mass Tort Litigation

The similarity of the wrong (tort) that
was committed against numerous people allows their claims to
be heard together. This bundling of claims promotes judicial
economy, but also creates a variety of new economic
incentives and disincentives for both plaintiffs and
defendants. Examples of mass tort litigation include
products liability claims (asbestos products, bad drugs
& pharmaceutical products , and vehicle recalls); large
business tort claims (shareholder actions, antitrust
claims, and investment fraud); as well as large scale
man made disasters (oil spills, apartment fires,
chemical plant explosions, & airplane crashes).

Texas mass business tort Attorney, Jason
Coomer helps Texas families and business owners that have
lost money through wrongful acts of corrupt CEOs, majority
shareholders, or negligent corporate officers. He helps
review accounting, contracts, and corporate wrongful acts to
determine if corporate malfeasance has occurred. As an
Texas Business litigation attorney that has handled
commercial litigation claims between former business
investors battling for stock, corporate accountings,
patents, trademarks, copyrights, web sites, domains,
buildings, customer lists, and other business assets.
He is familiar with negotiations, mediations, arbitrations,
Texas State Courts, and Federal Courts.
Austin Texas Business Lawyer, Jason Coomer is an
experienced business litigation attorney that handles mass
torts including shareholder actions, unfair business
actions,
commercial real estate
law, computer law, and
other business litigation.

Industrial
accidents including chemical
plant explosions, chemical releases, large warehouse
fires, fatal platform accidents,
fatal
construction accidents, and pipeline explosions cause
mass destruction including death, personal injuries, and
significant damage. Because of our global economy,
these industrial accidents can take place any place in the
United States or in the World, but be caused by greedy
corporations and negligent people in Texas. In many
instances following a large industrial accident the families
of the victims have a difficult time locating a Texas
Industrial Accident Lawyer to handle accidental death
claims, personal injury claims, or property damage claims
against Texas corporations that made negligent safety
decisions. Working with other Texas Industrial
Accident Lawyers and United States Industrial Accident
Lawyers, Jason Coomer is able to assist people that have
suffered the loss of family members, serious personal
injuries, and significant property damage from large
industrial accidents.

If a family
member has been killed in an industrial accident, you have
been seriously injured in an industrial accident, or have
suffered significant damages from an industrial accident or
other man made disaster, feel free to contact Texas
Industrial Accident Lawyer Jason Coomer
via e-mail or submission
form for a free online review of your potential
Industrial Accident Claim.

Texas Mass Tort Lawyer Jason Coomer
frequently works with other Gulf Coast Oil Spill Tort
Lawyers across the United States including Alabama Mass Tort
Lawyers, Florida Mass Tort Lawyers, San Antonio Mass Tort
Lawyers, and other Texas Oil Spill Lawyers to provide high
end professional legal services at reasonable prices.